Lab News

Recent evidence suggests that the Greenland shark may be the longest lived of all vertebrates, living for hundreds of years and not even reaching sexual maturity until they are at least 130 years old. How are they able to live this long? A new study by David Costantini, Shona Smith, Shaun Killen, and colleagues in Denmark examined this issue by measuring the oxidative status of Greenland shark tissues to see if minimising oxidative damage might be a mechanism by which they are able to extend their life. Although indices of protein damage in Greenland sharks are very low compared to most other animal species, it appears that this may be associated with other aspects of the ecology of Greenland sharks (e.g. adaptation to life in cold water and repeated deep dives) and not related for their long lifespan. Read more here!: